The Holy Rizhiner - that is how chassidim referred to Rabbi Yisroel of
Rizhin for over 150 years. He was a grandson of the Great Maggid of
Mezritch, the successor of the Baal Shem Tov and the man who taught,
inspired and guided the founders of the earliest chassidic dynasties.

Rizhin, a small town in the Ukraine, is one of those places that is
immortalized in history as the cradle of a great man. In it, the Holy
Rizhiner was an emperor of the spirit in a kingdom of sanctity, scholarship
and piety. He was a magnet for people who needed wise counsel, spiritual
elevation, efficacious blessings, incisive Torah thoughts and parables that
cast a shaft of light on previously obscure concepts.

Czarist persecution forced him to leave his native land, but nothing could
dim the glow of his greatness. Wherever he settled, his reputation followed
him and his holiness lit up new hearts and lands.

His great sons and descendants made towns like Sadigora, Chortkov, Boyan,
Husiatin and Bohush synonyms for chassidic aristocracy. The Holocaust could
diminish but not destroy the aura of Rizhin, which still lives, grows and
inspires.

In this magnificent kaleidoscopic work, Rabbi Menachem Brayer, a scion of
the Rizhiner and the father of the present Boyaner Rebbe, traces the life of
the Rizhiner and the several dynasties that emerged from him. This book is
filled with the biographies, anecdotes, Torah teachings, parables, and wise
sayings of all the pillars of Rizhin.

For anyone in search of timeless wisdom and the history of movements that
are still shaping the Jewish world, this is an indispensable treasure.